


Frost bite

by Windymon



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Boys Being Boys, Cold Weather, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Pre-Scourge, Pre-World of Warcraft, Rangers, Snow and Ice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 12:38:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15096887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windymon/pseuds/Windymon
Summary: ""I saw you laughing when Nathanos fell on his face in the mud!"Ignore it, a voice in his head told him. Don't encourage him, this is supposed to be a punishment."I most certainly did not!" Lor'themar found himself saying anyway, mentally kicking himself for it."You did too!" Halduron said, urging Dal'diel to close the distance between them, though Lor'themar's old hawkstrider snapped at the younger one. "You tried to hide it, but you did!"Lor'themar let out a deep sigh. That mistake of his, that lapse of character was probably why Sylvanas had assigned him to be Halduron's overseer as it were."





	Frost bite

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flyingllamas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingllamas/gifts).



> Set sometime before the second war. But is good wholesome fic, recommended for a bad day.
> 
> For Shira/Flyingllamas who keeps me writing, even when my brain sucks.

 

"Lor? Hey Lor, wait up!"

 

Lor'themar ignored the voice and let his annoyance fuel him, keep the head of his hawkstrider facing forwards, deeper into the forest.

 

"Oh, come on, you have to admit it was a little bit funny."

 

They had ridden in silence all the way to Tranquillien, but after leaving the last major settlement in Eversong Forest, Halduron had finally decided he wanted to talk.

 

"I saw you laughing when Nathanos fell on his face in the mud!"

 

Ignore it, a voice in his head told him. Don't encourage him, this is supposed to be a punishment.

"I most certainly did not!" Lor'themar found himself saying anyway, mentally kicking himself for it.

"You did too!" Halduron said, urging Dal'diel to close the distance between them, though Lor'themar's old hawkstrider snapped at the younger one. "You tried to hide it, but you did!"

Lor'themar let out a deep sigh. That mistake of his, that lapse of character was probably why Sylvanas had assigned him to be Halduron's overseer as it were.

 

 _"You're his superior, Captain Theron,"_ she'd snapped, putting special emphasis on “Captain”. _"Therefore his misdemeanor reflects badly upon you as well."_

 

And that was why they were heading south, during the worst part of the year, while Southern Quel'Thalas was experiencing the coldest winter it had seen in many, many years.

All because Halduron had thought it was a good idea to bring an injured Lynx back to their camp, which had roused during the night and begun to chase their mounts here and there, which had resulted in Nathanos Marris taking that mud bath. Not only that, but some of the hawkstriders had managed to elude capture until they were near the gates of Silvermoon City. Sylvanas has been rightly furious with them.

 

"This is going to be way less terrible if you stop ignoring me."

 

Halduron was nothing if not persistent.

 

"And you seem to forget that the point of this is punishment!" Lor'themar snapped, turning around in the saddle to face Halduron.

"Sylvanas needs to stop being a stick in the mud," Halduron said. "It wasn't all that bad, and besides it's not like I meant for her human “boyfriend” to fall into the mud."

"You're lucky she's not here right now," Lor'themar said tensely. "She might have considered throwing you in a cell instead."

Halduron let out a huff, but blissfully he kept his silence for a while. At least until they had passed the fork in the road which would have led them to the Sanctum of the Sun and a howling wind from the north started up.

"Whoah, is that snow?" Halduron said peering up at the sky, where fluffy white flakes had indeed begun to drift down from the increasingly overcast sky.

Back in Silvermoon City, even as far south as the Elrendar River, the skies would still be sunny and the temperatures nice and mild. But here, where the magical influence was weaker, it could not quite withstand the unusually harsh winter that was currently affecting the human lands of Lordaeron. Lor'themar could imagine what it might be like on the other side of the Thalassian Pass, but he did not care to.

"It's been ages since I saw snow," Halduron said with a grin, the expression on his face bringing to mind the boy Lor'themar had known, many years ago. His resolve to remain harsh with him slowly eroded. It really was hard to remain angry around the sunny disposition of Halduron Brightwing, true to his name.

"If we're lucky, we'll get to see it collect into drifts before your punishment is done," Lor'themar said as they approached the mountain pass which connected Quel'Thalas to Lordaeron to the south.

He reined in his mount and hoped that Halduron would follow suit, but instead the other elf turned his mount to the west, picking out another path between the trees.

"What are you doing?" Lor'themar barked, hurrying after Halduron, while the snow continued to fall. "The punishment was supposed to be a patrol of the Thalassian Pass until I had "Deemed you had been sufficiently chastised," in Sylvanas' own words.”

"She wanted me to freeze my butt off and feel sorry for being an idiot," Halduron called back at him. "I can do that and still have some fun."

Lor'themar rolled his eyes, but said nothing. He supposed that as long as he ensured that Halduron remained here, in the vicinity of the mountains, then he was still sort of following Sylvanas orders. And what she didn't know, would not hurt her... Or him.

"I have heard that the animals in Lordaeron hibernate during the winter," Halduron said. "And they do that every year."

Lor'themar just hummed and hoped Halduron would have a point to this discussion.

"Well, what do they do here then?" the other elf continued, turning around to face Lor'themar, while Dal'diel tugged impatiently on his reins. "It's not always so cold the plants die, so do they even know how to hibernate?"

Lor'themar shook his head. "I suppose the weaker will die, while the strong survive, that's just the way of nature."

Halduron had that look upon his face, which usually meant trouble.

"Hal," Lor'themar said, narrowing his eyes. "If I see you pick up even one rabbit and stuff it down your shirt..."

"Hey, I wasn't planning on doing anything like that!" Halduron said before he urged his mount to continue down the path.

The snow was falling readily now and started to cover the ground. His breath misted in the cold air and Lor'themar was starting to feel concerned. Surely Sylvanas had not intended for them to freeze to death for something as relatively innocuous as some escaped hawkstriders. He flipped up the hood of the fur lined cloak he had thought to wear and continued chasing after Halduron, hoping the other elf had had the common sense to wear his warmest clothing.

“It’s really coming down isn’t it?” came Halduron’s voice to his left and Lor’themar started, realizing the other elf had stopped and he’d only just caught up to him.

“We should stay closer together from now on," Lor’themar said, letting go of the reins for a second to rub some life into his fingers.

"You stay close to me then," Halduron said, "’cause I just had the best idea."

"Should I be concerned right now?" Lor'themar asked, quirking an eyebrow at his friend.

"Trust me, Lor," Halduron merely replied and urged Dal'diel back into motion.

Lor'themar's hawkstrider let out a sullen squawk as he was told to follow, but did as told. He whispered promises of a warm place to rest and plenty of treats into the hawkstrider's ear once he was done following Halduron around the forest.

It did not take long for him to realize where the other elf was leading him, because the further they went, the bite of the cold seemed to lessen. Soon enough, the gnarled roots of the largest and oldest tree in all of Eversong became a new obstacle for his hawkstrider to navigate and as they approached Thas'alah itself it was not unlike stepping inside a pleasantly heated room.

Halduron had dismounted and was stroking the great trunk of the tree with a reverential look on his face.

"See, nothing to worry about," he said as Lor'themar approached and dismounted as well. He gave his hawkstrider a scratch behind its ear plumes before he dug out a scrap of dried meat for it.

"Do you think it would be upset, if I took a branch to make my own bow out of it?" Halduron asked as Lor'themar walked up to him. "It's not fair that only Alleria has one."

"It's a Windrunner heirloom, I believe," Lor'themar said with a sigh. "We are nothing without our traditions."

"You don't really believe that last part," Halduron said with a frown. "Not after hearing you piss and moan about what your father's been trying to make you do cause of... ‘tradition’."

Where had Halduron learned to use those hand symbols, Lor'themar wondered. Maybe he had been honest when he'd told Sylvanas he had nothing much against human rangers, just not in Quel'Thalas’ army.

Lor'themar bit his tongue, to prevent himself from saying anything stupid and instead he ran his gloved hand along Thas'alah's trunk, feeling each groove and whorl there. He swore he could feel the pulse of something, he assumed the Sunwell, running through it. It was soothing and comforting, like how he had always imagined a mother's embrace to be. Not that he knew what that was like.

"Lor, hey! The universe is calling!"

Lor'themar blinked into full attention again and faced Halduron's grinning face.

"Maybe we can just stay here and relax for a few days, then when we head back you can tell Sylvanas I did so much marching that I got foot sores and that will be it."

Lor'themar drew his brows together in a frown.

"You know she would demand evidence of foot sores," he said.

"Well, better get cracking then," Halduron announced and began to march around the circumference of Thas'alah's large trunk.

"You're ridiculous," Lor'themar said and ran a hand through his pale blond hair, trying and failing to keep the smile off of his face. This was why he'd befriended the other elf, he never failed to make him smile, even in the direst of circumstances.

He watched Halduron make one full circuit around the tree, as the hawkstriders searched the vicinity for edibles, then he let out a sigh. Sometimes he hated his sense of justice.

"Okay, we can use this as a place as a campsite, but I really have to make sure you're reasonably close to where we are supposed to be," Lor'themar said, leaning against the tree to stop Halduron's progress.

"I guess that's why you're Captain and not I," Halduron said with surprising levity.

Lor'themar worried Halduron was upset with him for ruining what he probably saw as a perfect plan, but he showed no such signs as they left the comfortable vicinity of the great mother tree and returned to the piercing winds that whipped around the mountains to the south. The snow had continued to fall and now it had indeed begun to collect into drifts where gaps in the trees had left the ground bare.

The hawkstriders were managing things pretty well, all things considered and Lor'themar felt grateful for his elevated position, even though the wind was threatening to tear off his cloak at times. It was getting pretty cold.

"This is pretty great," Halduron said, breath misting in front of his face. "Do you remember that time, we were just wee high and my dad took us south to build snow elves?"

Lor'themar found himself smiling with the recollection.

"We weren't that small," he told Halduron. "I know you had hit your first growth spurt and were teasing me about being taller."

"Yeah, and dad just said you'd catch up one day," Halduron said wistfully. "You never did though."

The grin on Halduron's face at that moment was insufferable.

"That's it, I am taking you straight to the Thalassian Pass, now," Lor'themar said with mock upset in his voice.

He did do the "follow" whistle though and Dal'diel was quite eager to obey him.

"Hey, no fair," Halduron called. "No hijacking my mount."

"And let me remind you again, that I am supposed to be punishing you," Lor'themar said. "You should be glad I haven't tied you up and forced you to follow me."

"Thanks, buddy," Halduron drawled and slid off Dal'diel, landing gracefully in a mound of snow.

"What are you up to now?" Lor'themar asked, pushing away Dal'diel who had discovered the pocket where he kept the dried meat.

"Just... reliving old memories I guess?" Halduron said as he surveyed the snow covered forest. "Everything looks different with snow around, doesn't it?"

"It does," Lor'themar agreed, stopping to suck in a few lungfuls of cold, fresh air. The snow wasn't coming down as hard now, so the visibility was far better, which was why he wasn't overly concerned when Halduron began to wander off, his golden hair standing out against the white, like a smaller, second sun.

What did give him cause for concern though, was the sudden loud cracking of broken branches in the distance, followed by the shuffling of something large approaching them. Even from back here, Lor'themar could see the alarm on Halduron's face as a large brown bear broke through the undergrowth, roaring at him.

"Holy shit!" Halduron yelled as he began running, fumbling hands freeing the bow from its strap in his back and nocking it with an arrow.

The first one went whizzing over the bear's back, but the second hit it in the meaty part of the shoulder and the large creature let out another furious roar.

Lor'themar quickly got his own bow off his back and quickly got an arrow of his own into the beast. His mind was scrabbling through his old training lessons, but how often had they mentioned bears? They weren't indigenous to Quel'Thalas. This one must have wandered in through the Thalassian Pass, though weren't they supposed to be hibernating?

"I think he's only more pissed off now!" Halduron yelled as he kept running, having abandoned his bow.

"Don't lead him here then!" Lor'themar yelled and quickly forced the hawkstriders to get going. They did not need much urging through.

"Holy bloody light of the Sunwell!" Halduron cried as he nearly stumbled over some roots that had been obscured by the snow.

"To the left, run to the left!" Lor'themar cried back, digging up his mental maps of the forest. If Halduron could lead the bear to where the trees grew closer together, maybe it would give up.

"I'm trying!" Halduron yelled back as he disappeared between the trees, about 900 pounds of angry bear hard on his heels.

Lor'themar, as expected, had trouble getting his hawkstrider to follow and Dal'diel was simply following out of concern for Halduron. His mount managed the narrowing trail admirably, and Lor'themar had to make sure to keep his head low, lest he get knocked over the head by some low hanging branch in his path. There!

Halduron made a beeline for a narrow gap between a stand of maples and there he vanished. A second later the bear crashed right into it and the trees let out a loud groan, but they stayed put. The bear snarled and scrabbled for purchase, trying to pull itself free. With heart pounding, Lor'themar found another arrow and nocked his bow, just as the bear pulled itself free.

The arrow hit the bear right in its left eye and the roar it let out was earth shattering. Mad with pain the bear reared up and pushing away the panic that threatened to rise up within him Lor'themar aimed and fired once more.

As the bear fell towards him, he pulled out his sword and braced himself.

He felt, more than saw the blade hit home as he barely avoided being crushed under the weight of the fallen bear, blood gushing out on the ground in steady stream as the bear's great heart gave out.

"My apologies," Lor'themar murmured to the dead beast as he retrieved his sword, its blood warm against his leathers and exposed skin.

"Hey, Lor!" he heard Halduron cry. "A little help here!"

He rushed towards the sound and found Halduron scrabbling to stay out of the half frozen over lake, though it was barely large enough to be called that.

Lor'themar quickly rushed over to pull Halduron out of the freezing water and the other elf immediate began to shake from the cold. So was Lor'themar actually, now that the heat from the blood was cooling in the frigid air.

"Hey, are you alright?" Halduron managed to get out between his chattering teeth.

"I am," Lor'themar said. "But the bear isn't, if you know what I mean."

Halduron let out a bark of a laugh.

"Was that an attempt at a joke, Theron?"

Lor'themar's own chattering teeth discouraged him from making any kind of response to that and he was relieved to see the two hawkstriders trotting over to meet them, both of them honking with pleasure.

"Let's find someplace we can dry up, fast," Lor'themar managed to get out as he mounted.

Halduron nodded grimly, his ears sagging lightly.

Lor'themar quickly guided his mount towards the nearby cliffs and was quickly rewarded when he found a nice, tidy hollow between a large oak and the rocks. A perfect place to make a fire. Still, his hands shook so much at this point he feared the tinder would slip from his frozen fingers.

Finally he did manage to get a fire going, from the branches of the oak tree he'd managed to cut down with his sword. He hadn't packed for this sort of adventure.

He dug out blankets from their packs as he pulled off the blood soaked leathers and Halduron pretty much stripped down to his small clothes.

Lor'themar quickly warmed up when he huddled close to the fire, but Halduron was being uncharacteristically subdued.

"I think Sylvanas would be satisfied with this," he said, as an attempt at humor, but Halduron just let out a grunt.

Lor'themar felt concern rise up in him and dug up those old memories from the time with Halduron's father out in the snow.

 _"Body heat is always best,"_ he'd said, rubbing life into Lor'themar's frozen fingers.

So, Lor'themar let out a sigh and huddled closer to his friend, opening the confines of his own blanket to encircle them both. Halduron leaned into his body heat and Lor'themar nearly flinched at the cold skin on his face.

"Hal, your ears," he said, pulling out a hand to gently rub at the tips of Halduron's ears.

The other elf let out a pained grunt, but leaned in, so Lor'themar would have better access.

Lor'themar knew Halduron had been sufficiently revived when he leaned his head on his shoulder and sighed.

"Sylvanas is wrong, you know," he said.

"What do you mean?" Lor'themar asked.

"I am not a bad influence on you," Halduron said. "You're incorruptible. But you keep trying to rub off on me."

"Is it working?" Lor'themar asked.

"Maybe a little," Halduron said, raising his head from his shoulder to grin at him.

"I don't think I want to change you too much," Lor'themar admitted. "I think we work better together because of our differences. Because you're... you."

"And that's why you'll be Ranger Lord one day, while I'm still serving under you," Halduron said.

"Don't sell yourself short, Hal," Lor'themar said. "Just stop... doing what you do."

"You mean, be an idiot in front of the Ranger General?" Halduron sighed. "Yeah, I got that part alright."

They ended up spending the night in that hollow, only emerging from their blanket pile to cut new branches for fuel, sharing the dried meat between the two of them.

By sunrise, the air already felt warmer and by the time they were back in relatively warm and dry clothes, mounted on their hawkstriders once more, the snow was starting to melt.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted," Halduron said as they found the road leading back towards Tranquillien.

"Fun?" Lor'themar scoffed. "I thought you had learned something?"

His only response was a wet snowball to the face and with a laugh Halduron urged Dal'diel to go faster, quickly leaving Lor'themar behind.

Lor'themar just sighed, wiped the slushy snow off of his face and hurried after his friend.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Tying my various stories together through Halduron's hawkstrider.  
> (Go ahead, look.)
> 
> And yes, watch me weave in my headcanons to flesh things out. Because if Blizzard wont do it...  
> (Thas'alah, is canon however: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Thas%27alah.)


End file.
